Hickey.



P. T. ZIZINIA.

HIGKEY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1913.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

'61, Inventor:

having been PAU'T. '1". 'zIzIN'IA, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

HICKEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9,1913.

Application filed March 28, 1913. Serial No. 757,279.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PAUL citizen of theUnited States, residing at 225 Test Eightieth street, in the borough ofManhattan, in the county of New York, city and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Hickeys, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to hickeys used to connect an insulating joint toan electrolier or similar fixture, and its novelty consists in theconstruction and adaptation of the parts as will be hereinafter morefully pointed out.

As is well known to those skilled in the art to which this inventionrelates, because of the obligatory interposition of an insulating memberto prevent the carrying of a short circuit into the building, therebycausing danger of a conflagration, the usual electric light assemblageconsists of a projecting stud which may be a gas pipe, an insulatingjoint, a hickey and a wire conduit, all assembled in line in the ordernamed, and usually connected together by threaded joints forming acontinuous assemblage. The hickey in such combination is a small tubulardevice provided with holes or slots in its side or sides to permit of.the wires which are carried in the interior of the conduit to pass theinsulating joint.

The hickey in common use today, so far as the same is known to me, ismade with a substantially continuous vertical bore from end to end, andis provided with an unsplit opening or openings in its side or sides. Toassemble the combination, the wires projecting from the conduit arepassed in at one end and out at the other end, going completely throughthe hickey which is then screwed onto the conduit. In order to withdrawthe wires from a hickey of this kind, so that connection can be madewith the insulating oint, it is necessary, by means of a hook or similartool, to fish the wires out through the side openings of the hickey.This is where a difficulty arises and frequently results in strippingthe insulation from the wires, thereby necessitating an other wiring ofthe fixture. In order to overcome this difliculty, forms of the oldhickey were devised in which slots were cut extending from one of itsends to a side opening, thereby permitting the wires, after passedthrough the hickey, to be bent back through the slot or slots and T.ZIZINIA, a

spread outward in the side openings, thus avoiding the necessity offishing the wires out through the side openings. But by thus slittingthe hickey, the device was weakened to such an extent that reinforcementbecame necessary. Such reinforcement of the weakened hickey has beenattempted by various devices, principally by detachable members such asinterior plugs or exterior encircling rings of special construction, allof which have added to the cost and the difliculty of assembling theparts without in reality adequately accomplishing the desired end.Because of the long leverage incident to the length of chandeliers andelectroliers, any unnecessary weakening of the connecting joints cannotsafely be permitted, and it has long been desirable to provide a hickeywhich would have the advantage of permit ting the wires to be drawn outthrough the side openings without difiiculty and which, at the sametime, would not be weakened by the presence of slits or slots as in theconstruction above outlined.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide such a hickey by the useof which the wires are readily drawn from the connected fixture throughthe body of the hickey to the outside, one which needs no slotting orsubsequent reinforcement, and which is simple, cheap, efficient and easyto use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of an electric lightassemblage including a hickey embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the hickey separated from the other parts; Fig. 3 is avertical central section through the hickey on the plane of the line 33in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of an electric light assemblageincluding a hickey having two side openings; Fig. 5 is a side elevationof the parts shown in Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a central vertical section of amodified form of hickey with its side openings gradually diminishing incross sectional area; Fig. 7 is a central vertical section of a modifiedform of hickey showing its bottom opening expanded and threaded topermit of its connection with. two wire conduits of different externaldiameters; and Fig. 8 is a central vertical section of another modifiedform showing a swivel interiorly threaded and secured to the hickey,thus providing a loose or rotatable connection to the wire conduit.

In the drawings, 10 represents the body of the hickey which ispreferably made cylindrical, frusto-conical or tubular in form, andwhich may be made of any suitable material as cast metal. The body ofwhatever shape is closed at the top and provided with means forconnecting it to the usual insulating joint indicated at 20, and whichmeans, in the form of the hickey illustrated, comprises a restrictedexternally threaded neck 11, the lower portion of the insulating jointbeing provided with a threaded aperture to engage the threads of Saidneck. The body 10 is provided with a bottom opening indicated at 12 anda side opening indicated at 13, between which there is provided apassageway or bore 1 1 for the wires. In the bottom opening, the bore orpassageway is preferably internally threaded to afford means forconnecting the same to an up wardly extending and externally threadedend of the wire conduit or similar fixture 30.

In use, the Wires are readily passed through the bottom aperture 12 andguided out or deflected through the side openings 13 by contact with thewalls of the passageway 14. This operation requires no thought or care,does not require the use of a tool, and is quickly performed.

It will, of course, be understood that the hickey may be provided withany usual suit able means whereby it may be connected with the wireconduit and the insulating joint, and that I am not confining myself tothe use of an externally threaded neck or internally threaded aperturefor the purpose of making these connections, as any connections whichperform an equivalent function will be within the principle of theinvention.

In Figs. 4: and 5, there is shown a hickey in which there are two sideopenings allowing the wires to be projected one through each opening andin opposite directions.

In Fig. 6 the passageway is shown as provided with converging sidesleading to each side opening so that its cross sectional area graduallydiminishes from the center of the hickey toward the side opening.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modified form of the hickey, in which thelower part of the bottom aperture is expanded and thread ed as indicatedat 15, in order to provide means by which wire conduits of differentdiameters may be joined to the same hickey, and in Fig. 8 there is showna hickey provided with an external annulus 16 internally threaded asindicated at 17 and swivelcd to a shoulder 18 internally provided at thebottom of the hickey. This allows a threaded connection to be made withthe wire conduit so that it can be rotated if necessary, and preventsthe twisting of the wires if such should occur.

IVhat I claim is:

The combination with an insulating joint having a lower and internallythreaded socket, of a hickey comprising a tubular body having a closedtop and an open lower end, an upstanding externally threaded neckprojecting from the closed top and threaded into the socket of theinsulating joint, said body having an opening through one side, and afixture element threaded into the lower end of the body.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PAUL T. ZIZINIA.

Vitnesses CLARENCE G. CAMPBELL, EDNA A. MonELAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

